An interventional study of Family strengthening program in Parent-Child Relations, Emotion Regulation and Economic Problems, sponsored by Boston College. Completed at 1 site in Sierra Leone. Open to participants aged 9 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-04-20.
Sponsored by Boston College · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
In Sierra Leone, poverty and challenges with family functioning can lead to family separation, and children may go to live on the street or enter residential care institutions/orphanages. Helping Children Worldwide (HCW), a non-profit organization with over 20 years of experience in Sierra Leone, has developed a two-part Family Strengthening Program delivered by their program partners in Sierra Leone, the Child Reintegration Centre, to improve families financial literacy and attachment between caregivers and children, with the ultimate goal of preventing family separation. The hypothesis of this study is that the Family Strengthening Program program is effective at (1) changing parenting behaviors, (2) improving emotional regulation, (3) improving caregiver-child attachment, and (4) improving financial literacy in dyads consisting of children ages 9-13 and their caregivers.
545 studies on the registry are indexed under Emotional Regulation; 188 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 226 is above the median of 79 across 498 interventional studies indexed under Emotional Regulation.
Browse Emotional Regulation studies →Boston College is the lead sponsor of 38 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion criterion:
(1) Family has been assessed by the Child Reintegration Centre to be in active crisis, i.e., specific concerns about the child being at-risk or unsafe (suspicions of abuse or neglect).
Behavioral: Family strengthening program
These participants have already been receiving case management from the Child Reintegration Centre prior to the study, and they will continue to receive care as usual, which is to receive normal case management visits without this added Family Strengthening Program component. Case management consists of a social work staff alternating between visiting children at home or at school each month to provide supervision, coaching, counseling, assessments, and identification of additional support needs.
Phase I: 2-day Family Strengthening Workshop. The specific topics included in the workshop include: emotions, Body Progressive Muscle Relaxation, body stretch, self care, apologizing, routines to promote attachment, teamwork, saving, delayed gratification, anticipating unexpected expenses, identifying family strengths and values. Phase II: Case management with family strengthening curriculum. Curriculum is delivered over the course of four visits (about 3 months), some of which involve both caregiver and child while others are just for the caregiver. Topics included are using appropriate discipline, effective communication for family problem-solving, and home budgeting.
Caregiver and child change in emotional regulation as measured by the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation (DERS) scale
Time frame: Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Change in child attachment as measured by the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA)
Time frame: Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Change in caregiver- and child-reported use of punishment by caregiver
Measures developed for this study tailored for context; e.g., flogging child with hand or cane, public shaming, withholding food
Time frame: Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Change in self-reported economic well-being
Measures developed for this study tailored for context and intervention content; e.g., awareness of income/spending, saving and budgeting behaviors, ability to pay for unexpected expense
Time frame: Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Change in child- and caregiver-reported parenting behaviors by caregiver
Measures developed for this study tailored for context and intervention content; e.g., asking child about their life, spending one-on-one time with child, physically showing affection, giving compliments/praise, using a routine, apologizing, providing emotional support
Time frame: Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Ran from Oct 2022 to primary completion in May 2023, 7 months.
Of 390 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Emotional Regulation, half reached primary completion within 18 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 6 and three quarters within 36. This study's 7 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 396 studies reached it within 18 months; a quarter within 6 and three quarters within 36.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Boston College